Kamen Rider Gaim: Another World
by Hikari no Paladin
Summary: Teenager Kinji Akahoshi finds himself in a weird forest, where he gains the power to become a Kamen Rider. This first chapter depicts his adventure in the forest, Helheim, hence the title 'Adventure in Helheim'.
1. Chapter 1- Adventure in Helheim

-CHAPTER 1-

ADVENTURE IN HELHEIM

The hooded man reached out a grimy hand for a wrinkled, purplish fruit from a tree. It distorted for a very brief while, then turned into a bulky lock with the design of a single papaya at the front. He allowed himself to have the pleasure of a smile, which he rarely did.

"This Lock Seed will be extremely useful…"

Kinji strode to the bookstore for his part-time job, while glancing up at the familiar billboards, which used to feature random advertisements for things like fast food, restaurants and underwear, were now filled with pictures of Armored Rider Bravo.

With his Sparta-themed, spiked glossy green armor and purple arm guards, he possessed a regal aura, compelling people around him to look at him.

His shoulder guards each had a large spike of the same color as the main part of his armor.

On his waist was a Sengoku Driver, which looked like a large belt buckle, with a mini blade at the side, and on it was a bulky, lock-like device called a Lock Seed, the front half of the lock flipped open to show the cross-section of a durian, only without the large central seed, and at the bottom half, showed a single, spiked sword with arcs of red zigzags which represented lightning bolts. Bravo's yellow, upturned and almond-shaped eyes seemed to stare directly at everyone who gazed at him, brandishing two of the swords featured at the bottom half of the open Lock Seed.

Kinji snorted.

Bravo had made his debut by preventing an attempted murder, disarming the perpetrator yet not harming the criminal or himself. Since then, he had become a celebrity, for nobody else had the ability to use Lock Seeds for any other purpose than for summon creatures named Inves, mainly used to settle disputes, be it petty or major, though Kinji thought that he was too much if a show-off. The strange thing was, nobody, not even the paparazzi knew his identity.

As he walked towards the bookstore, he noticed some weird, curling multicolored plants. Curious, he walked over to see what it was, and was and got sucked into a gap that looked like space was zipped open, zip and all.

That was the last thing he remembered before losing consciousness.

Kinji's eyes snapped open and he jolted up, staring into space with wide eyes for a while, then attempted to regain his bearings.

He looked around suspiciously, expecting to see the glint of a camera lens of the filming crew of some prank show. Instead, he spied a Chinese temple, complete with the acrid smell of lighted joss sticks and smoke wafting softly out of the entrance. He took a slow step into the temple and scrunched up his nose slightly, the smoke stinging his nose.

Though the low light made it difficult to see, he could make out a the familiar, bulky shape of a Lock Seed on an altar ahead, placed respectfully in front of some statues of bronze statues of Chinese deities. He staggered forward, his legs weak from lying down.

With a trembling hand, he picked up the Lock Seed.

It was the Grape Lock Seed, with six grapes stacked up in an inverted pyramid at the front.

He also spotted a belt buckle with a hexagonal hollow and a 'face plate' at the side.

The belt buckle was exactly the same as the one on Bravo.

"Hey… Bravo did this too…" Kinji mused, and without hesitation, put on the driver. It formed a yellow belt around his waist. Kinji decided to ignore the fact that it could somehow fit perfectly on his waist and activated the Lock Seed. The lock on the Lock Seed opened, and grape symbol shone purple once, then shone again when a syllable was said.

[BU-DOU]

A bunch of grapes in the shape of a frustum appeared in the air and just floated around the top of his head. Kinji then fitted the Lock Seed inside the Driver's hexagonal indentation, then pressed the lock down with his thumb.

[LOCK ON]

Kinji pulled up the end of a blade to slice down. The front half of the Lock Seed flipped open, showing the cross-section of the grape featured on the Lock Seed's front on the top half and the picture of a pistol with a grape motif on the bottom half.

[HAIII! BU-DOU AARMS! RYU! HOU! HAHAHA!]

The frustrum landed on his head, light purple, illusory water went over his body, green Chinese-style robes forming wherever the water the water touched him, the left lapel of his robe overlapping the right side. The frustrum split into four parts vertically and opened, the two at the sides folding and forming the arm armor, the front forming a breastplate, and the back forming back armor, some fitting at the back of his head. Three spheres formed a triangle on the chest, and a fourth was on the three spheres. A traditional green Chinese helmet with an intricate rimming was his helmet. Kinji didn't seem to get what was going on, and patted himself all over in disbelief.

"That… I'm just like Bravo… I… _HELL_ YEAH! Now…"

Kinji enthused, until he realized that he was in a strange forest he didn't even know how he entered.

He opened and pulled out the Lock Seed, which reverted him back to human form. Kinji then stepped out of the temple and saw trees and weird plants sprouting from the ground. He spied a purplish fruit growing on a tree. He peeled of the crinkly skin without picking it to reveal a juicy fruit with translucent, cloudy flesh.

"Looks so delicious…"

Kinji muttered, then quickly plucked the fruit and took a huge bite without hesitation. Instead of biting into a delectable, juicy fruit, he nearly broke his teeth on the hard material of a Lock Seed.

"_WHAT THE HELL_!" He groaned.

Instead of a juicy, delectable fruit, he was staring at a Lock Seed: Specifically, the Kiwi Lock Seed. He recognized the brown, capsule-like structure which was supposed to represent a kiwi. Kinji grinned, though he thought that it looked nothing like a kiwi.

"This place… the fruits are Lock Seeds!" Kinji breathed.

He wandered around for a while, picking the fruits and chucking away the low-level Sunflower seed Lock Seeds and those that had yet to mature.

What he wasn't told was that the Inves would grow stronger after eating Lock Seeds.

Or that it happened to be their favorite food.

An Inves staggered over and picked up one Lock Seed that Kinji threw away and seemed to examine it before shoving it into its mouth. It staggered around, picking up other discarded Lock Seeds that were lying around.

The sound of the Inves consuming the Lock Seed alerted Kinji. Craning his neck to see the source of the noise, he saw a trembling Inves. It sprouted four translucent insect wings and they beat so quickly that it was just like having a miniature tornado right in front of him.

The Inves, with its new power, had apparenty decided that Kinji was a threat and flew over at attack him.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!" Kinji screamed.

Activating his newly acquired Grape Lock Seed, he frantically put on the Sengoku Driver and fitted the Lock Seed into the Driver, then pressed on the open Lock.

[BU-DOU]

[LOCK ON]

A traditional Chinese melody played, and his armor for his upper body materialized and floated down, then he sliced the Lock Seed after shouting: "HENSHIN!"

[HAIII! BU-DOU AARMS! RYU! HOU! HA-HA-HA!]

After he transformed, he flipped out the pistol portrayed on the bottom half of the opened Lock Seed and furiously pulled on the trigger as fast as he could on the trigger in a moment of desperation.

Most of his shots hit the Inves, and one struck its wings and, unable to maintain its flight, crashed to the ground, struggling to get up.

"Oh yeah, that Bravo guy did this too…" Kinji mused, then pulled upwards on the miniature blade attached to his Driver again.

The Driver announced:

[BU-DOU SQUASH]

He pointed his gun at the Inves, expecting some sort of powerful, cannon-like blast of energy.

As the seconds passed, Kinji grew more and more puzzled.

The Inves took the chance to get up on its feet and hastily hobbled over to Kinji, using its forearm like a hammer to smack Kinji so hard that he fell on the ground, disoriented.

To his horror, the remaining Lock Seeds had attracted a whole mob of Inves, and some were furry and feral, like lions or stray dogs who had overdosed on steroids and growth hormone pills.

Shaking his head, Kinji hopped to his feet and jumped out of the range of the Inves' physical attacks. Spinning his pistol in his hand, he proceeded to take normal shots at the Inves. He tried to take shots at some of the Inves' weak spots. However, they were barely affected, staggering forward like a zombie army.

Wringing his hands, Kinji rolled out of the way as an Inves took aim at him, shooting energy projectiles at him, missing him by just a hair, so close that his left bicep got grazed. As he ran, some weaker Inves took the time to snap nearby fruits up and grew wings, some growing even larger, and some evolving into more feral or insect-like forms. Or both.

"Are these guys like attack on sight or something?!" Kinji thought furiously to himself. It was then that he noticed a tab with two round finger grips, of course, in the shape of grapes, at the butt of his gun.

"Hey, I wonder if…" Kinji muttered. He pulled on the mini blade again, then the sound rang loudly:

[BU-DOU SQUASH]

Kinji pulled on the tab.

Relatively large, translucent purple spheres circled the muzzle of the pistol and Kinji pulled on the trigger. The spheres shot forward at a blinding speed and crashed into the Inves, destroying them all in a massive explosion. The Inves were still intact, but exploded into fragments too tiny to see with the naked eye soon after they staggered around disoriented for a while.

Pulling back the flipped up front of the Lock Seed and pulling it out, the armor disappeared, seeming to fade away. Kinji wiped the sweat from his eyebrow and checked his pants, praying that he didn't wet himself.

Taking a deep breath, Kinji decided to return to the temple to check for clues to the forest he was in.

As he attempted to backtrack his steps, he noticed a significant difference in the appearance of the space near a tree, and went over suspiciously to check out what it was. Kinji found himself looking at a rip in space: Similar to the one that had dragged him into this freaky forest. Then, he felt a force pulling him into the rip.


	2. Chapter 2- Reason for Fighting

**So here's my second chapter. I want to send thanks to New Universe Returns for the review. So I think the next chapter will take more time because I'll be busy. But that's basically it. Enjoy!**

* * *

-CHAPTER 2-

-REASON FOR FIGHTING-

Kinji stumbled through the rip, nearly falling but managing to regain his footing. He turned around and saw nothing in the rip, which was zipping up from the bottom just like a zipper.

He got up.

He was aware that most people would be rather shaken to find themselves in a forest with fruits that transformed into expensive Lock Seeds and hostile Inves that attacked on sight. But on the contrary, he felt rather energetic and excited. Maybe it was because he got a new A-Class Lock Seed and a Sengoku Driver, which people believed to only be owned by Bravo. He was a Rider!

But his ecstasy was short-lived as he remembered what he was doing before being dragged into the forest.

He was going to work.

Which meant, much to Kinji's absolute horror, that he was extremely late for work.

He rushed to his workplace, a desserts and pastries café where he worked as a waiter. He stowed his Sengoku Driver in his jacket and entered, and his boss adjusted his glasses, and observed him with slight amusement.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry Mr Yamashiro. I will do overtime to make up for lost time and anything else! I'm so sorry!" Kinji rambled.

His boss let out an amused chuckle.

"Ah… oh that… I was planning to let you off with overtime, but since you said you'd do anything… I'll add counter duty on." Kinji's boss, Yamashiro, said, before bursting in a fit of laughter. Kinji looked stumped as his boss handed him his uniform and tray. He changed in the staff room. Stupefied, he waited on tables with an expression showing shock, bewilderment and slight amazement all at the same time.

After work, he returned home. His sister had sent mail to him. Opening it, he read the letter.

'Hi Bro! It's Sakura here. I'm doing well in America, but English is still hard to master. I've done well in my recent test and I hope you've been well too! By the way, just in case you miss me too much, I've included a picture!

-Love, Sakura'

Kinji grinned and kept the letter, looking at the picture of his sister: wide eyes, a cheery grin, and hair as black as ebony.

Kinji took off his jacket and placed his Sengoku Driver on his table.

Since he had nothing to do for the rest of the day, he slumped down on the couch and relaxed. Then, he felt hungry. He went to the fridge to look for food, only to see two empty, cold, white compartments, except for a box of ice cubes in the freezer. Sighing, he took his wallet and went downstairs to buy groceries. Just as he left, he stopped, and took his Sengoku Driver with him, in case something happened again like previously.

"Hm… maybe I should make udon today…" Kinji mused as he began making a mental list of things he should buy while walking to the supermarket. He went into the supermarket and idly walked around, selecting fruits, drinks, eggs and snacks. After that, he went to the cashier to pay.

Once he left the supermarket, he heard a familiar tune- the sound of an electric guitar, followed by a slicing sound and a roll call.

[DURIAN ARMS! MISTEEER… DAANGEROUS!]

He also heard a tune like Japanese trumpets and drums, followed by a slice and a different roll call.

[MELON ARMS! TENKA GOMEN!]

He snuck to the source of the sound, an alley. Real cliché. He saw Bravo, along with another Rider, in the zip that dragged him into that forest before.

* * *

The other Rider was mainly white. His armour landed on his head, clear energy splashing on his body and forming a white bodysuit with black designs. The front armour folded into a segmented breastplate, two on each side. V-shaped armour formed around his shoulders as shoulder guards, and as the armour unfolded, Kinji saw the Rider's face. He had a crescent-shaped crest with the tips of the crescent pointing upwards with a small spike extending from the lower midpoint of the crescent forming his face armour, a small, oval shaped, blood-red gem embedded in the area of the gold where the spike went downwards. His visor was plainly golden, and a part of a melon covered the back of his head. On his waist was a formidable katana sword, the inner section yellow and the outer section, the cutting edge, was silver. The guard was slanted, with a small trigger at the handle and a muzzle at the end of the guard. White shin guards were adorned with the gold structure of the Rider's helmet.

He also wielded a large shield. It had the gold structure as a frame, complete with the gemstone. The tip protruded out of the bottom of the shield threateningly, and in between the curves was a circular melon structure. Green parts filled most of the shield, the two sides adorned with structures like slices of melon.

Despite his domineering appearance, Bravo seemed unfazed by him, instead admiring his swords. The white Rider wielded his shield on his left hand and brandished the katana on his right. He then feigned a sign of hesitation. But it was enough to fool Bravo.

_"Hyyaaaaaaa!"_ Bravo screamed, dashing to the white Rider and swinging his swords downwards in a deadly arc. The white Rider sidestepped and slashed Bravo, causing him to crash into the ground.

"Would you ever think that such a careless mistake could be made by one such as I, the great Zangetsu?" The white Rider, apparently known as Zangetsu, mocked his opponent.

"Tsk!" Bravo muttered and cursed under his breath.

He got up, and now began to take reckless slices at Zangetsu, who seemed to be nonchalant about the imminent danger headed his way, blocked the strike with his shield and stabbed from behind the shield. Bravo let out a guttural groan, then with a furious howl, sliced on the blade on his belt again.

[DURIAN SQUASH!]

His blades glew pale yellow and he slashed, yellow waves of energy speeding at Zangetsu. Kinji was about to shout a warning when Zangetsu opened his Lock Seed and fitted it into a hexagonal gouge between the handle and blade of the sword, then closed the lock.

[LOCK ON]

A count began.

[1 - 10 - 100 - 1000 - 10000]

[MELON CHARGE!]

The sword announced, then glowed bright green. Zangetsu swung with might and green, twirling discs of green energy plummeted towards Bravo, but he didn't dodge, and the energy crashed into Bravo, a loud explosion muffling his almighty scream.

Then he decided to try and follow Zangetsu, as he walked away towards the rip and Kinji followed. As Zangetsu was about to exit the rip, he turned and placed his blade on Kinji's neck.

"Why are you following me?" Zangetsu demanded. Kinji stared in shock at the blade as it pressed on his neck and drew a thin line of blood.

"I-I saw the fight. Why did you kill him?" Kinji stammered.

Zangetsu snorted.

"Hmph. Kill? I did no such thing. I merely disqualified him from the battle." Zangetsu stated, pulling the blade away and then sheathing it, much to Kinji's relief.

"Do you know why you were given this Driver?" Zangetsu asked.

"Given? I thought I just happened to acquire it in the forest." Kinji replied, genuinely curious.

Zangetsu laughed at Kinji's cluelessness.

"These Drivers are bestowed upon chosen people once every one thousand years, to choose the new ruler of the Forest of Helheim. The participants battle in a large battle royale. To eliminate other competitors, one must break the Driver of the foe. The loser would lose his powers and disappear." Zangetsu explained in a patronising tone.

"But…why would you tell me this?" Kinji queried.

Zangetsu laughed, then spoke.

"The goal of this battle is to eliminate other Riders. So I figured I'd let you have something to take to your grave!" Zangetsu exclaimed, lunging for Kinji with his sword.

Kinji jumped and rolled aside, activating his Lock Seed and fitting it in the Driver.

[BU-DOU]

[LOCK ON]

The familiar Chinese tune played, and Kinji sliced with the blade.

[HAIII! BU-DOU AARMS! RYU! HOU! HAHAHA!]

The armour unfolded, which gave Kinji some precious few seconds to process what was going on, and once the transformation was complete, he brandished his gun and shot desperately, only to fail as Zangetsu lifted his shield, offering him the ultimate protection. With an almighty shout, Zangetsu attempted to impale Kinji with his sword. Kinji, not being burdened with heavy equipment, was more agile and managed to dodge once more.

"I need a physical attacker… wait… I have a Lock Seed for that!" Kinji realised.

He pulled out the Kiwi Lock Seed that he found and activated it.

[KIWI]

He opened the Bu-Dou Lock Seed and pulled it out, then replaced it with the Kiwi Lock Seed.

[LOCK ON]

The Chinese standby tune played, a brown kiwi floated down and he sliced.

[HAIII! KIWI ARMS! GEKI! RIN! SEI-YA HA!]

Without fixing itself on Kinji's shoulders, part of the kiwi's top and right portions split to form the right shoulder guard, and the other side folded into to the left shoulder guard. The remainder of the armour folded into a breastplate which showed the green insides of a kiwi fruit. He wielded large, fearsome crescent-shaped blades. The centre of the blade was a kiwi with a hole in the center. The blades were intricately detailed with wispy, gold cloud designs like one would see in a Chinese painting. He held the weapons using a black handle along the blades where it curved upwards and separated. Zangetsu sliced yet again, only to be blocked by Kinji's weapon. Kinji used the one on his other hand to jab at Zangetsu's chest, and he stumbled back and gasped. Kinji charged forward and ran his weapon blade over Zangetsu's belt. Zangetsu was thrown back, and when he got up he examined his belt in panic, but relaxed when he saw his belt intact. Zangetsu fitted his Lock Seed into the katana and closed the lock.

[LOCK ON]

[1 - 10 - 100 - 1000 - 10000]

[MELON CHARGE]

Zangetsu sliced and huge discs of green energy sped towards Kinji, who stood rooted to the ground with fear, though his brain was screaming at him to move.

_So this is the end for me,_ Kinji thought, and closed his eyes.

Expecting to be cleaved apart into several pieces at any moment, Kinji resigned to his fate. But the flaring pain of being split apart never came. Instead, he saw Bravo in front of him, his swords crossed in front of him, stopping the blades of energy, which dissipated swiftly.

"_You-!_ I killed you just now! _How?_" Zangetsu roared in disbelief.

Bravo cocked his head.

"Did you think it was _that_ easy to kill me off? I'm insulted," he taunted.

Zangetsu growled and charged forward. Bravo rested the bottom part of his blade diagonally on Zangetsu's left shoulder and sliced down. The attack sent sparks flying and Zangetsu stumbled backwards. Bravo took another slice, which was easily parried by Zangetsu, who had enough time to recover. Zangetsu used his shield to smash Bravo's head.

"Woah! You're making good use of your shield now, aren't you?" Bravo commented.

"Shut it." Zangetsu replied, taking a jab at Bravo's belt with his katana.

"I'm not falling for that trick again. I see your Musou Saber is still in good condition…' Bravo mused, referring to Zangetsu's sword.

As they fought and parried each other's moves, Bravo's perpetual commentary irritated Zangetsu to the point that he roared and sliced twice on his Driver.

[MELON… AU LAIT!]

He leaped up high into the air, and green, energy-like slices of fruit materialised like a path for Zangetsu, narrowing as the neared Bravo. Zangetsu shouted, and plummeted down. Bravo, being more calm, ducked and stood up after Zangetsu crashed into the soil, without a target to hit. Bravo sliced once on his Driver.

[DURIAN SQUASH!]

Bravo slashed at Zangetsu, who collapsed feebly to the ground.

"Hey, Ryugen," Bravo called to Kinji. "Come over here!"

Kinji went over, trusting Bravo for reasons unknown to himself, and Bravo towered over Kinji.

"What kind of fighting was that!? Your footwork was weak! You don't use the Kiwi Geki-Rin like a spear!" Bravo scolded, and began to criticise almost everything in the fight.

"Ok… now, you're in luck. Because I'm gonna teach you." Bravo suddenly said.

Kinji stared at him, baffled, suspecting a trap.

Bravo laughed.

"Don't worry, I have no interest in killing you or smashing your Driver. I'm just gonna teach." Bravo promised. Kinji took another tentative step towards Bravo. Bravo then took Kinji's hand which was still holding the Geki-Rin and guided him through the proper ways to use the Geki-Rin, and completely ignoring the comatose Zangetsu on the ground, who occasionally quietly moaned in pain.

"Now, we'll work on real fighting." Bravo said. He looked around for a target and spotted Zangetsu.

"Ah, there's one. Hey! Get up!" Bravo said, finally taking notice of Zangetsu. Zangetsu jerked and woke up, then grabbed his Musou Saber to slash Bravo. Bravo ducked aside and Kinji used his Geki-Rin to attack, this time using the moves Bravo taught him. Zangetsu was swiftly subdued again and collapsed again.

"Good, you learn fast. Let's get out of here now." Bravo said casually, before exiting the forest through the rip.

Kinji was about to do the same when he realised that he dropped his groceries while chasing Zangetsu. He ran back to the place, with Bravo following and shouting at him, asking what was wrong, and Kinji found his groceries.

"We're in a forest where insect-like monsters live, food which super-powers their bodies grow freely and wildly, and they can attack us any second, and you worry about your groceries!?" Bravo said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Kinji examined the bags and to his dismay, found smashed eggs, their contents spilled all over in the bag. He decided to move on and buy a new carton of eggs when time allowed.

He exited the crack with Bravo, but Kinji stopped again.

"What now?" Bravo asked.

"I don't know you." Kinji stated plainly.

"Oh, so we're in kindergarten, going by the 'don't go with strangers' thing again? I just saved your life, for God's sake!" Bravo said in exasperation.

Kinji stood where he was and Bravo eventually sighed and relented.

"Ok… but you change out of your Rider form too, got that?" Bravo asked. Kinji nodded, and Bravo closed the folded out part of the Lock Seed, and was bathed in yellow energy, and Kinji closed his Budou Lock Seed, and was bathed in purple light.

Once the energy dissipated, Kinji saw a middle-aged man with brown hair, sharp eyes and a black overcoat. His cheekbones were well defined, and his lips curled slightly in a smile, observing Kinji.

"I always like that light. Anyway, I'm Armoured Rider Bravo, also known as Kurusu Jin." Bravo said, bowing slightly.


	3. Chapter 3: The Helheim Palace

So here's my third chapter, fresh from the oven. I'm already working on the fourth chapter, so it'll probably only take me a few more weeks for me to post the next chapter. Stay tuned until then. Finally, thank you to all my readers and subscribers.

* * *

-CHAPTER 3-

-THE HELHEIM PALACE-

Kinji stared at the man who was Bravo, Kurusu Jin. Nobody knew who he was, yet he had simply told Kinji.

"Now, if you're wondering why I told you who I am…" Kurusu said, as if reading Kinji's mind, "I want to take you in as my disciple."

Kinji stared agape at the man.

"Don't look at me like I'm an alien, I'm your teacher. Now let's get to my house for training." Kurusu said, heading off somewhere.

"B-b-but… that…" Kinji stammered, at a loss for words, eventually letting his legs go on auto pilot to follow Kurusu.

Kurusu led him to a flat, and the inside was rather roomy, but less extravagant than his expectation.

"What? Thought I'd be younger? 'Cause old guys don't normally call themselves 'Bravo'? Sorry to disappoint anyway!" Kurusu joked, to which Kinji shook his head. Kurusu invited Kinji to sit and Kinji did just that.

"So I've noticed that your fighting style is like that of an overly caffeinated baboon. I really don't like seeing noobs fight, so I've decided to train you, otherwise you'd be defeated in an instant in this battle." Kurusu said, which made Kinji's expression sour.

"By the way… I want to ask you… Zangetsu said something about a survival game. What is it?" Kinji asked.

Kurusu walked to the kitchen and returned with a cup of coffee, and he nonchalantly took a long sip, then spoke.

"The forest we were in is called Helheim. The fruits, as you can see, convert into Lock Seeds when they are picked. However, there's this sick bastard somewhere in Helheim, the ruler. He decided to look for a successor, so he made this stupid game to do that. So back to the main topic. The battle is simple. When the Riders battle, they have to eliminate the opponent by smashing their Sengoku Driver. I see that you got yours in a Chinese temple." Kurusu explained.

"How'd you know?" Kinji asked.

"C'mon, your rider is a Chinese themed one. Of course you'd find your one in a Chinese temple. Of course, I'm sidetracking, and I love it. I found mine in a Spartan gladiator arena." Kurusu revealed.

Kinji laughed.

"Anyway, back to important stuff. So your accuracy with the Budou Ryu-Gun obviously needs much more work, so follow me!" Kurusu said as he finished his coffee.

Kurusu led him to a wide field.

"Let's test your accuracy. I'll be shooting discs from here. Use your Budou Ryu-gun to shoot these discs!" Kurusu said.

Kinji took out his Lock Seed and transformed.

[BU-DOU]

[LOCK ON]

[HAIII! BU-DOU AARMS! RYU! HOU! HAHAHA!]

He pulled out his gun and fired. For every disc he shot, almost three others escaped unharmed.

Kurusu shook his head.

"This won't do. You need to be fast and accurate. For example, using moving targets. But I think we'll stick with static targets now." Kurusu said, still looking disappointed.

Kinji was brought to another long room with a paper target in the shape on a common Inves at the end of the room.

"How many rooms do you have? And why are they all for shooting?" Kinji asked.

"You ask too much, kid. But ah well, I'll tell you anyway. I'm a huge fan of guns. Honestly, I had hoped to get a weapon like yours. A gun. But no, I HAD to get the Durinokos!" Kurusu said sarcastically, referring to his twin blades.

Kurusu gestured and Kinji took aim. Firing several shots, he hit the paper Inves in the head, stomach and another shot at its chest.

Kurusu nodded.

"Say, why can't you do that with moving targets?" He asked, to which Kinji shrugged.

After a few hours of such training, he moved on to training with his Kiwi Geki-Rin, and was brought to the forest.

"Hey, why do you seem to know where there zips are?" Kinji asked curiously.

"You mean the Cracks? They're everywhere, but you just need to see a glow nearby that only is Riders can see. Anyway, the Crack is hidden from human view, so that makes it more convenient and we won't attract a crowd when battling." Kurusu said.

They entered a Crack they found and Kinji activated his Kiwi Arms.

[KIWI]

[LOCK ON]

[HAIII! KIWI ARMS! GEKI! RIN! SEI-YA HA!]

At the same time, Kurusu activated his Durian Lock Seed and transformed.

[DURIAN]

[LOCK ON]

[DURIAN ARMS! MISTEEER… DAANGEROUS!]

"Alright, come at me," Bravo declared, crossing his Durinokos in front of him.

Kinji approached Bravo, swinging his Gekirin at waist level. The durian Rider easily avoided his strikes. With one last parry, Bravo raised a hand o stop him.

"The problem with the Kiwi Arms is the fact that your arm motion is restricted by your shoulder pads. Try lifting your arms," Bravo instructed.

Kinji did as told, but couldn't raise them beyond seventy degrees.

"I knew it. The Kiwi Gekirin also come in as an issue, since they're so big. So what you'll want to do is to slice diagonally downwards to increase the force of slicing and to compensate for a lack of arm mobility. You could also try using them as a thrusting weapon," Bravo advised. "Now let's try that again."

Kinji advanced on the battle-ready Bravo again, this time lifting the Gekirin in his right hand to his left shoulder and swinging it downwards. The force of the strike was enough to unbalance Bravo, who stumbled backwards slightly. Kinji took the opening and thrusted the Gekirin his left hand at Bravo's torso. Though Bravo dodged the strike, the wheel plunged deeply into the tree behind Bravo. Indicating to Kinji to stop, Bravo stabbed his dual saws into the ground and applauded Kinji.

"Great! So turns out, your physical fighting is good, your accuracy with the gun is horrible!" He said, making Kinji frown.

"Well, I think we should work on your accuracy more. So get back to using the Budou Lock Seed.

Kinji nodded and switched Arms.

[BU-DOU]

[LOCK ON]

[HAIII! BU-DOU AARMS! RYU! HOU! HAHAHA!]

He twirled his gun in his hand and shot the fruits off the tree. Unfortunately, he mostly shot the fruit instead of the stem, and juicy, succulent, translucent flesh oozed out of the fruit.

"Ooh, if that didn't turn me into an Inves, I'd totally be pigging out on those." Kurusu said.

Kinji spun on the spot.

"Wait, WHAT!?" He shouted.

Kurusu looked at him, mildly surprised that Kinji raised his voice so suddenly.

"They turn you into Inves!?" Kinji demanded.

"Well, yeah. You didn't know?"

"I almost ate one of those!"

"Well, you have to have experience to be able to perform best."

"You could have told me while you were explaining Helheim!"

Kurusu laughed, but stopped and looked down meekly when Kinji glared at him.

"Well, it turned into a Lock Seed, but it still was risky." Kinji said, which made Kurusu double over with laughter.

"The Sengoku Drivers instantly mature the Lock Seed Flowers, so they turn into Lock Seeds immediately. We can't have the Riders turning into feral Inves, after all." Kurusu explained.

They continued training, and Kinji killed passing by Inves occasionally, so his aim improved greatly. After a while, Kinji noticed himself glowing.

"What the!" He called, and looked over to Kurusu for an explanation. Kurusu grinned cynically and a flash of light blinded Kinji momentarily.

* * *

He opened his eyes and found himself seated on a deep purple throne, and there were more thrones around the table. around a golden table and spotted Kurusu, in his Rider form, sitting on a pale yellow throne and was about to call his name out when Kurusu placed a finger to his lips.

Kinji looked around and noticed other Riders sitting.

Figures materialised on the thrones, and it took Kinji a while to realise that they were all Riders as well.

There was a samurai-themed rider with orange-coloured armour and a gold, diagonally tilted blade on his forehead. He had a Musou Saber hanging off his waist and had an Ichigo Lock Seed hanging off the other side of his waist on a hook of sorts. He also had a sword with the blade shaped like a wedge of orange, pulp and all. His bodysuit was dark blue, segmented in rhombus shapes. He sat on a metallic orange throne.

There was another that looked like a Western knight, and his armour, funnily, seemed to be a metal banana, with each end sticking out as shoulder pads. His visor was yellow, with fine metal pieces acting as grilles in the helmet, covering the visor itself. He had two small halves of a banana curving upwards on either side of his head. His bodysuit was mainly red, with silver along his sides and on his chest, encircling his thighs and acting as Y-shaped shin guards. His throne was metallic yellow, which looked ridiculous, or so Kinji thought.

Zangetsu sat arrogantly on a shiny white throne, and observed Kinji with amusement.

There were two more riders, standing at the door, but they weren't sitting down on thrones.

The first was brown, with a glistening yellow visor separated in half by a sharp silver tip. His bodysuit was the same as the banana rider, with the red replaced with brown. His shoulder guards were the hard top shell of an acorn and the bottom tip was on his chest. He held a hammer with a short shaft, the head being an acorn.

Another one was black, and his visor looked like a half oval. His bodysuit was black, as was his armour, which was rather compact. He held a spear, and top had a pinecone with a blade extending out of it.

Kinji noticed that they were standing completely still, as if they were suspended in place, and that they weren't wearing a Sengoku Driver.

A figure with silky black robes glided into the room. Kinji tried looking in his hood, which looked like it was made of shadows, but he only saw black nothingness. As he entered, the Riders at the door bowed deeply. He went and sat at a large, shiny black throne.

"I now welcome you all back to the Helheim Palace. However, this is not the case for everyone. We have a newcomer, the next participant of the game, the wielder of the Budou Lock Seed. Have you chosen a name yet, warrior?" He spoke, and asked Kinji.

"M-me? I… well… haven't really thought of it, but there's always been one that's been on my mind." He said.

"Go on." The man urged.

Kinji swallowed, and spoke.

"I'm… Ryugen."

The man spread his arms and spoke again.

"So we have it: the current players in the game now are…" he gestured to all of them.

"Gaim!" He said, indicating the orange Rider with the Musou Saber.

"Baron!" He said, gesturing to the banana Rider, and Kinji figured Baron wouldn't be too pleased to be heard being called the 'banana Rider'.

"Zangetsu!" The man continued, facing Zangetsu.

"Bravo!" He proclaimed yet again, waving a robe sleeve towards Bravo.

"And finally… RYUGEN!" He yelled, towering behind Kinji.

The other Riders clapped, and settled down.

"Since Ryugen is new, I shall explain the battle yet again for his sake. This is a survival game, to determine who will be the next ruler of Helheim. Namely, my successor. To win, you must either kill the other combatants, or smash their Drivers. You may battle anywhere you want. hat's basically the battle. I have high hopes for you, Ryugen. You've got potential. Good luck. Meeting adjourned!" He exclaimed.

"Wait a minute!" A loud voice echoed through the hall. Heads turned slightly to stare at the source of the protest. The banana Rider, Baron, stood up.

"How do we know he's competent enough for this battle? There's no thrill in hunting easy prey." Baron asked.

"Baron, not everyone sitting in this room is here simply as your prey," Gaim pointed out, crossing his arms.

"I'm in this to kill, you're in this for whatever you're in this for, I think you'd agree that we don't need a pansy dragging this out for us," Baron retorted.

Gaim seemed like he was about to make another argument, when the man let out an echoing laugh.

"Interesting! If that is the case, so be it!" The man proclaimed, and the room disappeared.

Ryugen reappeared in the forest, but he realised that he was in a gigantic glass cube.

"W-wha-" Ryugen stammered, but he noticed that the floor was littered with many Acorn and Pinecone Lock Seeds. Suddenly, the Lock Seeds flashed and they were replaced with several copies of the two Riders he saw in the previous room. He did a quick count and counted around 25 of each Rider. 50 in all. Just great.

"AAAAHHHH!" He screamed, pulling out his gun and shooting. He realised that it was futile, being pummelled by the brown Rider's hammer every time he rammed his gun close and shot a Rider. He tried to slice once on his Sengoku Driver, but one of the Riders blocked him and another jabbed its spear into Kinji's thigh when he tried to roll to the side. He gasped silently in pure shock and at first there was only numbness, but that numbness blossomed into flaring pain, intensifying with each passing moment, which became even more painful as the spear was twisted while in his thigh, causing warm, sticky blood to spray out. For a moment, he blacked out, but he saw light again and swiftly sliced on his Sengoku Driver before he could be stopped.

[BU-DOU SQUASH!]

Purple spheres materialised and crashed point-blank into the other Riders. When they stumbled back, Ryugen stumbled past them and limped out of range. He then pulled out his Kiwi Lock Seed.

[KIWI]

[LOCK ON]

[HAIII! KIWI ARMS! GEKI! RIN! SEI-YA HA!]

His Kiwi armour unfolded and he brandished his Kiwi Geki-Rin, then dashed towards the horde of Riders, cleaving through them with improved efficiency compared to last time, having been trained by Kurusu, but he figured he'd fight better if he didn't have a ragged, bloody gash in his thigh.

"And here I thought the suit was indestructible…" Kinji muttered to himself.

From the room, Baron was watching intently while Kurusu stared and his jaw tightened under his helmet.

Kinji took the head of another Rider, and flicked his wrist and the one of the Geki-Rin buried itself in one of the heads of a Rider.

Slash, stab, rip, fling. That was Kinji's strategy.

He planted his foot firmly on the body of the Rider with his Geki-Rin and yanked, pulling the Geki-Rin out. It was clean, no blood, like the others. He laid waste to the Riders, and he stood among heaps of dead, lifeless shells. But then again, they were lifeless shells from the start.

"So we have now seen Ryugen's competence. I say, this has increased my expectations of you once again!" The man laughed.

"King-sama! Why do you so vehemently praise this Rider!?" Zangetsu protested, referring to the man in the robes.

"I have no obligation to answer that. Now, if there are no questions, this meeting is adjourned." The man called King said, then glided out of the room.

"So, you're the one I'm gonna be killing? You look like a fun target." Baron chuckled, then disappeared when the air spiralled around himself like rapid wisps of white air.

"Don't worry. It'll be alright. I'll protect you." Gaim assured Kinji, before disappearing in the same fashion.

"I'm gonna get revenge for last time. I don't care what Baron says, I'm beating him to killing you!" Zangetsu growled, before disappearing.

"This is bad…" Bravo mused, before disappearing as well.

Kinji felt himself getting lighter, and the scene changed from the Palace to Kurusu's home. He fell to his knees, Kurusu closing his Lock Seed.

"This is bad. This is very, very bad." Kurusu said, a grim expression on his face.


	4. Chapter 4- Stage of the Flower Blossoms

**Well, I'm done with this chapter. But first, though I should have done this clarification stuff sooner, I do not own Kamen Rider Gaim. That belongs to Toei. Now back to my writer's notes. So I'm going to introduce a new character in this story. Chapter 5 will take sometime because I'm having a writer's block, but hopefully I can get over it soon enough. Hope you enjoy this story as you hopefully have enjoyed the others too! That's a lot of hope, I know.**

* * *

-CHAPTER 4-  
-STAGE OF THE FLOWER BLOSSOMS-

Kurusu frowned and glared at Kinji as if looking at a dead mean walking.

"W-what…" Kinji stammered.

"Now both Zangetsu and Baron are out for your blood, no thanks to you. They're the two most dangerous contenders in the game," Kurusu warned.

"But that King guy tossed me into the middle of a hundred Riders! I just fought like you taught me!" Kinji protested.

"I taught you to fight, yes, but showing your hand to the enemy is like painting a target on your face. Well, it's not like there's anything we can do now," Kurusu sighed in resignation.

"Go home for today. I think you've received enough training for now." Kurusu announced, standing up.

"Yes sir," Kinji agreed. Gathering up his Driver and Lock Seeds, he strapped the Driver on and stuffed the Seeds into his pocket.

The next day, Kinji woke up and checked his alarm clock with bleary eyes. The time made his eyes widen.

"Shit! I've got morning shift today!"

Quickly getting dressed, Kinji bolted out of the door, nearly rolled down the stairs, and began sprinting at top speed into town.

"Crap, crap, crap!" he groaned.

As he turned a corner, a familiar zipping sound entered his ears. Turning to the source, he saw a Crack in the wall.

"Really? Now? Sorry, buddy, I'm in a hurry," he bowed to the Crack, then continued running.

He made it a few steps away from the dimensional rip, then felt something cold zip past his cheek.

"What the-" Touching the area, he felt a warm stickiness. Red blood stained his fingers.

As Kinji's brain registered the injury, another bullet came zipping at him, striking the ground where his foot would have been had he not backed away.

"Last warning shot. Get in and fight or else, wimp," a male voice rang out from the Crack. Kinji recognized the voice of the Rider who had gotten him into the mess in the Helheim Palace.

"Baron?" he muttered.

"Get in the Crack! _Now!_" Baron's voice barked again.

Kinji kept silent for another second, weighing his options. Then, he made his decision.

"…Bye!" And he bolted.

Kinji didn't bother looking back, he just cared about running as far away from the Crack as possible. He felt the wind generated from the bullets graze past him, but all narrowly missed him.

Taking out his phone, he dialed the number he had received from Kurusu just the day before.

"Um, Kurusu-san? Yeah, awfully sorry to bother you, but I'm currently _BEING FIRED AT BY A CRAZY BANANA RIDER!_" Kinji screamed the last part as he dodged another bullet.

"At this time? Shit. I've got my hands tied right now, so I can't help you…"

"Seriously? I'm about to die here!" Kinji protested.

"As much as it pisses me off, you gotta survive on your own this time. Can you do it?" Kurusu asked.

"Looks like I don't have a choice, do I?" With that, Kinji cut the call.

"Though I said that, this is bad," Kinji grumbled as he managed to turn a corner, away from the Crack.

"Safe!" he sighed. Leaning against a wall to rest, he tried to reconsider his options.

"This guy's out to kill me, so talk is useless with him…" as Kinji mumbled to himself, he failed to notice another Crack opening behind him. When the rip opened fully, Kinji tumbled backwards into the Crack.

Kinji was greeted once again by the familiar sight of the Helheim trees covered by Lock Seed Flowers.

"You really are a stupid prey. Nobody will stop when hunted. Well, whatever," Baron's voice rang out again, making Kinji bolt up in shock.

"Now, let the hunt begin!" Baron's voice betrayed his excitement.

[BANANA]

[LOCK ON]

The sound of European trumpets sounded throughout the forest. Kinji stood up and strapped on his Sengoku Driver, then heard the slicing sound produced by the Sengoku Driver.

[COME ON! BANANA ARMS! KNIGHT OF S~P~EAR!]

Kinji looked around.

He heard deep laughter and he tried looking around, but he dived aside as he heard the sound of the blade on the Sengoku Driver slicing down again, followed by an announcement.

[BANANA SQUASH!]

Tendrils of shimmering, yellow energy cut through the air. Kinji rolled out of the way, but the energy struck a bit too close, making a jolt of numbness pulse up his leg.

Kinji cursed and looked at where the attack originated. Baron was there, holding a western-style spear, a portion of black separating the tip and the part near the shaft. Three yellow parts stuck out and curved downwards, making it look like a peeled banana.

"Even his weapon looks stupid…" Kinji muttered to himself.

Baron looked down, and seemed mildly disappointed that Kinji hadn't been struck.

He leaped down and jabbed mercilessly, leaving Kinji panicking. He quickly activated his Lock Seed.

[BU-DOU]

[LOCK ON]

[HAIII! BU-DOU AARMS! RYU! HOU! HAHAHA!]

Ryugen brandished the gun and shot at Baron. Baron grunted and fired a surprisingly strong punch at Ryugen's stomach. He fell backwards and groaned at the pain.

"Where's the thrill? I thought you were good, after you killed so many Pseudo Riders. But then again, that's probably the limit to your power." Baron taunted.

Ryugen growled and got up, clenched his fists and took out his Kiwi Lock Seed from a holder that Kurusu gave him, similar to the one on Gaim.

[KIWI]

[LOCK ON]

[HAIII! KIWI ARMS! GEKI! RIN! SEI-YA HA!]

He yelled a battle cry and sped forward, his Geki-Rin slicing down in a deadly arc. Baron parried the parallel discs simultaneously with his spear.

"What kind of idiot strikes like that?" Baron sneered.

Incensed, Ryugen flipped the blade on his Driver twice.

[KIWI… AU LAIT!]

His Geki-Rin glowed green and he sliced, shining green arcs of energy slicing through the air at Baron, who rolled aside. The place where the energy struck glowed green for another moment, then the grass ignited, and began to burn.

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Baron enthused, pulling out another Lock Seed and activating it.

[MANGO]

A red mango with yellow grooves materialized as tendrils of energy gathered, though there seemed to be no place to fit his neck through.

[LOCK ON]

[COME ON! MANGO ARMS! FIGHT OF HA~MMER!]

The mango split in mid-air and attached to Baron's head, opening into armor while the split portions folded back to form a mantle. His shoulder pads were red, with a squarish yellow shape which resembled mangoes sliced into cubes at the sides.

His weapon was a large mace with a silver shaft and yellow head segmented into yellow squares. The mace ended in a long, sharp tip, colored similarly yellow. Baron hefted it up and at Ryugen. Ryugen blocked the plummeting mace with his arm, but the shock numbed it. Baron proceeded to attack Ryugen once again. He hefted his mace and gravity pulled it down, knocking the breath out of Ryugen, nearly rendering him unconscious.

"It's useless… I'm just a new player… I can't beat a veteran like him…" Ryugen muttered.

Ryugen tried to crawl up, only able to turn, his back facing up. He felt something at his back and found the mace's sharp tip planted firmly in his backbone, inflicting acres of pain on Ryugen.

Baron laughed and stepped on Kinji's limp body.

"Is this all you got? Thought you'd have more in you. While this was quick, it entertained me a little. Thanks." Baron grinned, leaping backwards and slicing on his blade once again.

Ryugen huffed and closed his eyes.

[MANGO SQUASH]

The head of the mace glowed yellow and Baron swung the mace, a yellow, energy-like version of the mace plummeting towards Ryugen's prone body.

"This is how it ends? Urgh… this sucks." Ryugen muttered to himself.

[ORANGE SQUASH!]

An orange blur materialised in front of Ryugen and the energy crashed into it, causing an explosion. When it settled, Ryugen saw Gaim kneeling on one knee, the other straight, his right hand outstretched to the sky and his left hand's fingers lightly touching the ground.

"Gaim," Baron said, in a voice with subdued outrage, "you dare interfere with my hunting?"

"This hunting's sick. And I'm pretty sure I said I'd help this guy, right?" Gaim simply said.

Baron growled and removed the Mango Lock Seed, changing back to Banana.

[BANANA]

[LOCK ON]

[COME ON! BANANA ARMS! KNIGHT OF S~P~EAR!]

The armour unfolded, and Baron dashed towards Gaim.

Gaim drew his Musou Saber and parried Baron's jab. Baron changed his fighting style and used his spear like a sword. Gaim dodged and slashed Baron, bringing out his orange-like sword, the Daidaimaru, dual-wielding it with the Musou Saber and attacked with impeccable dexterity, his attack as graceful as a dancer.

"I always hated that damned fighting style… but I have more!" Baron muttered, before pulling out a Strawberry Lock Seed like the one on Gaim's belt, only Gaim didn't have his.

"My Ichigo Lock Seed… BARON!" Gaim hollered as he noticed the absence of his Lock Seed on the holder hanging off his belt.

Baron cackled and activated the Lock Seed.

[ICHIGO]

Tendrils of energy collected and formed a small, red strawberry.

Baron closed the lock.

[LOCK ON]

He sliced on the blade.

[COME ON! ICHIGO ARMS! SHUSHUTTO SPARK!]

The bottom tip flipped open and the berry fixed itself on Baron's neck, the bottom tip forming his right shoulder pad. The top and right parts of the strawberry folded into his left shoulder pad, with a greenish tip. There was another squarish section under the top part and that folded with the front section to form his breastplate. The rest folded back into armour at his back.

"Take that, Gaim! You thought I was gonna play fair, idiot?" Baron mocked.

"Screw you!" Gaim barked.

"Chill, man." Baron chortled,amused by Gaim's outrage.

Gaim clenched his fists and calmed down.

"I'm not out yet!" Gaim proclaimed, brandishing his swords and dashing towards Baron.

"Yeah! That's it!" Baron whooped, leaping out of range and throwing triangular, dual-edged, throwing daggers with strawberry designs embossed in the blade, and a cylindrical hilt and a circular bottom.

Gaim parried the Ichigo Kunais and closed the distance between him and Baron, sending his blades swinging down on his opponent's head. Baron rolled out of the way and tossed more Kunai, this time knocking Gaim's Musou Saber out of his hand and hitting his ankle. Gaim fell to the ground with a scream

Baron continued tossing a barrage of daggers at Gaim, who barely managed to dodge and parry them. Then, a stray Kunai was sent lying straight towards Gaim's Driver, which Gaim failed to dodge. Just before the dagger made contact, Ryugen, who had been watching the battle the entire time, jumped in between and knocked down the Ichigo Kunai.

"STOP IT!" He bellowed.

Suddenly, silence permeated the air as Ryugen slowly got up.

"Why do we have to do this? Why do we need to fight?" Ryugen demanded.

"A-HA! See? Another pansy, determined to drag this battle out for us! I knew it'd come to this!" Baron proclaimed.

"And as I said, not everyone in this battle is here as your prey. And nobody should die in this battle." Gaim retorted.

With a roar, Ryugen leapt at Baron, his Geki-Rin swinging towards the Baron's neck. Baron dodged and flung several Ichigo Kunais, which Ryugen blocked by using his other Geki-Rin as a shield. Ryugen jumped again and stretched out his arms as he descended, turning himself into a top. The strike hit Baron squarely in the chest, opening a smoking, ragged gash at his chestplate.

Ryugen continued spinning and swinging his Geki-Rin, parrying the Kunai out of Baron's hand. Finally, one of Ryugen's blades slipped under Baron's arm, slashing his Driver.

The Ichigo Lock Seed instantly shattered, leaving Baron in his silver-and-red bodysuit.

Baron stared down in shock.

"What… what the hell…" Baron murmured.

Ryugen finally calmed down and realized what he did.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?!" Baron yelled, his words hitting much harder than he ever could.

Luckily, Baron's Driver was left undamaged, Ryugen's blow only having broken the Lock Seed.

"You dipshit… I'll settle this one day… for now…" Baron growled, running out of the Crack after ripping off his Sengoku Driver.

Ryugen glimpsed a pitch-black tailcoat and an equally black hat as the yellow light dissipated.

"Ahh, I can't say I'm happy about you smashing my Lock Seed, but… you chased Baron away! Getting away with your life is a feat in itself. Be proud of yourself, Kinji!" Gaim commended, folding his Lock Seed.

Ryugen nodded, before Gaim's address of him fully registered.

He stared, shocked as the light dissipated, revealing a teenager with high cheekbones and brown eyes, a handsome, grinning face with neatly combed black hair and wearing a black shirt underneath a shining black leather coat and black long pants.

"H-Hideyoshi?!"


	5. Chapter 5- The First Death

Well here it is, the next chapter. Another long one. I gotta tell you guys, don't expect this story to follow the original to any great degree. I'm adding an extra piece of equipment I just thought up of, and I'll probably make more if I get any ideas. Keep your notifications up, I'm introducing a new character in the next chapter (this is all I can give before it becomes a HUGE spoiler)

Finally, I'd like to clarify that Gaim isn't my original creation, it's an actual TV show. Obviously I don't own it, but I'm writing (or typing?) this down because of some reader's comments (I'm not gonna name that person, but you can check out the comments and put two and two together). But enough from me, just enjoy the story!

* * *

-CHAPTER 5-

-THE FIRST DEATH-

Hideyoshi grinned and held out his hand. Kinji got up and embraced his friend.

"Easy, man. Though I admit it's always a wonderful thing to meet ME…" Hideyoshi chuckled.

"Hideyoshi! I've not seen you since we graduated from high school! Where've you been?" Kinji asked.

Hideyoshi shrugged.

"My folks moved to Shinjuku, so naturally I had to move with them."

"Other than that, how'd you become Gaim in the first place!?" Kinji finally said. He had a whole ton of questions to ask, but this seemed to take priority above all others.

"Yeah, life story time… I remember it like it was yesterday… though it was, like, two months ago…"

* * *

Hideyoshi rushed to the school, opening his overcoat as he walked in, welcoming the cool interior of the staff room.

"Weather's hot today. Damn. And I've got a whole stack of worksheets to mark." Hideyoshi grumbled, referring to the ungodly stack of unmarked mathematics worksheets on his table and got a strong smack in the back.

"Hideyoshi! You're slacking again, aren't you?" His colleague yelled. His name card identified him as Kitamura, the PE teacher.

"Kitamura-sensei… not really. Just gotta finish marking these worksheets, and I'm going for lessons."

"Ha, I'd have thought that you'd never want to set a foot in this high school again. And I'm not your teacher anymore. Stop calling me sensei!" Kitamura said.

Hideyoshi smiled. In around a few hours, he completed the marking, and went up to the class with the proud and shining clean metal label with the words 'CLASS 2-A' embossed on the surface. He slid open the door and stepped back as the chalk duster fell on the floor and threw up a cloud of white dust. Hideyoshi smiled, picked the chalk duster up and put it on the ridge at the blackboard.

"You still think you'd be able to get me with that? Less pranking and more studying!" Hideyoshi called.

His students groaned at another failed prank, then submissively took out their textbooks.

Hideyoshi began conducting lessons, consisting of textbooks, worksheets, and more talking.

After lessons, Hideyoshi rushed. His gut was aching. He finally found The Place. The place which would rid him of all suffering. Most people knew it as the toilet. He rushed into an empty cubicle and pulled down his pants. He heard zipping, though he dismissed it as someone else unzipping their pants. As he sat down, he fell all the way through. After a long fall, he landed on what felt like soft grass.

"What the heck?" Hideyoshi surveyed his surroundings, seeing gnarled trees and strangely-colored flowers all around him. "A forest?"

He looked up and shouted in shock, seeing the view of the toilet above him through a portal that looked like a zipper opened in mid-air.

"Shit! Now where do I take a dump!" Hideyoshi shouted, slamming a fist on the ground in frustration.

He looked around, trying to find the exit.

He didn't find it. He did find something more interesting, though. A Japanese style castle, complete with archer towers and a moat.

"Damn…" Hideyoshi muttered, suddenly feeling compelled to walk in.

As he entered, he saw something. He went forward, and picked it up. It was a rectangular belt buckle with a small blade at the side and a hexagonal hollow in the middle. The other side was a black plate which fitted the belt buckle perfectly. At the top was a silver piece of what seemed to be metal with a hole at the middle. At the side, Hideyoshi saw a Lock Seed and a booklet.

"Holy! An Orange Lock Seed!" Hideyoshi breathed. Hideyoshi had only seen it once before. It was quite rare, such a powerful Lock Seed. Hideyoshi stared at the round orange with tiny indents to replicate the surface of the fruit and the words 'L.S. 07' on it. He went to the booklet. The front page wrote 'Sengoku Driver Instruction Manual'.

"Pfft, what is this, a kids' toy?" Hideyoshi scoffed. But then he noticed that the back of the Lock Seed fitted the hexagonal hollow. Weighing his options, Hideyoshi decided to flip through the manual.

"Place buckle on waist…?"

Hideyoshi followed the instructions and the belt buckle formed a yellow belt that fitted perfectly around his waist. The black plate at the side glowed and changed. There was now a side view of a green helmet with visor resembling stained glass.

"To use, activate Lock Seed and fit into hexagonal groove…" Hideyoshi continued, following the instructions on the manual.

He opened the Lock Seed, and the lock opened and the fruit shone orange.

[ORANGE]

He heard something above him and looked up, seeing a large metal orange materialise.

"Damn! What's going on?" Hideyoshi cursed.

He fitted the opened Lock Seed into the groove and consulted the manual.

"Close lock and push end of blade down, cutting the Lock Seed." Hideyoshi read aloud.

"Like this?" He pushed down the lock.

[LOCK ON]

"Then…" He flicked the butt of the knife upwards with his finger, and the knife sliced open the front of the lock.

[SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI… ON STAGE!]

The orange landed on his head, folding into four parts. The front folded into a breastplate, whereas the sides halved themselves and folded down to become shoulder pads. The back folded downwards to form armor protecting his back while revealing the grey inside. A sword with a blade that resembled an orange slice materialized in his hand.

"What the!" Gaim cried out.

He dropped the manual in shock and saw the next page.

"Weapons: Daidaimaru and Musou Saber? This weirdness is too much for one day…" Gaim mumbled to himself.

He looked at his sides and saw a katana-like sword at the side. It matched the diagram for the Musou Daber, and the one in his hand matched the diagram for the Daidaimaru.

"This orange sword looks stupid." Was the first thing Gaim said before he flipped to the last page.

"Caution: the first transformation on this first-edition Sengoku Driver will attract huge mobs of Inves wanting to eat you. Have fun!" Gaim read aloud. Beside the instructions was a smiley face with a victory pose.

"Inves? Aren't those just used for heavy labour?" Gaim wondered. He heard snarling, and a bead of cold sweat ran down his forehead under his armour.

Gaim slowly turned around, failing terribly at hiding his panic, and jumped as a single Inves lumbered into view.

"Oh… that's it? All right! At least I might be able to deal with one of these…"

Or at least, that was what Gaim thought. Then the Inves opened its mouth. The grey shell on its back, what Gaim thought to be the Inves's shell, opened with the front of the face into sections that looked like tendrils. It was lined with several rows of sharp teeth resting on blood-red gums, with what looked like bits of raw flesh hanging off the teeth. Gaim felt bile rise to his throat. Before he vomited all over himself, however, a small army of the same Inves poured into the room through the door.

"Oh shit!" Gaim said, drawing his weapons.

He slashed and hacked, but the Inves never faltered. They kept coming, more replacing the ones Gaim slew.

"Hey now… I have a stomachache! How do you expect me to hold off these guys?" Gaim called out to nobody in particular, panic rising in his voice. Ignoring his stomach, he fought for survival.

He slashed and hacked, managing to hold off the Inves.

Eventually, the Inves looked up and all ran away. Gaim turned and saw a dark figure. He brandished his sword and slashed at Gaim, and Gaim fell.

Another shadow used a long staff to hit Gaim as he stumbled, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Know your place, worm," the one with the sword snarled. "Kneel before the King!"

Gaim looked up and saw a hooded man, the two shadows bowing deeply to him behind him. Under his hood, he smiled. It seemed really cruel. He reached for the instruction manual and flipped through it.

"Well," the hooded man said in a smooth, velvety voice. "Seems to me like the first one is fully functional. Good job. Now, Hideyoshi-san, you've been chosen to fight a battle for ownership of this forest, the Helheim forest. You are currently the first one, but do not fret. I shall gather more and you shall have a battle like no other in history!"

"You think I'm a kid? A toy instruction manual, seriously? And then you send Inves after me!" Gaim muttered. The shadow with the sword got up, kicked Gaim and caused him to drop to the ground.

"You ought to respect the King, Hideyoshi-san." The hooded man said patronisingly. This infuriated Gaim and he lunged forward. The shadow with the staff went forward and swiftly rapped Gaim's shins and although he had armour on his shins, they felt like they had caught on fire.

Gaim collapsed to the floor, only to be yanked up by one of the shadows, a sword pressed to his belt.

"King-sama, please allow me to kill this man!" The shadow implored.

"No need. Now, Hideyoshi-san, I've chosen you to fight in a really fun battle. The rules are simple. See, the Driver you just got, it lets you transform. You already know that. But you need to smash other's Drivers to eliminate them from the battle. Survive until you're the last one standing, and you win."

Gaim gritted his teeth.

"What makes you think I'll be interested?"

King chuckled and held out his hand. Immediately, vines sprouted from his hand and grew outwards. The reddish-purple fruits grew, and turned into several Lock Seeds.

"Simple: pure power to match the gods. You see, if you win, you get to inherit my power. I have total control over an entire world: this forest. I can control the plants' growth and can even control what kind of fruits sprout out. You become King, you'll be able to-"

"No." Gaim said without waiting for more.

"What?"

"You heard me. I don't want this." Gaim muttered.

King's smile fell and he splayed his hand. Gaim was thrown backwards and was forced into a gap in the castle walls.

King slowly turned his hand palm-up, clenching it as he did.

The wall slowly closed on Gaim. His armour began making ominous cracking and creaking sounds as he groaned.

King relaxed and dropped his hand, and the cliff reopened. Gaim fell out, and the cliff rejoined and it seemed as if it was untouched. He saw bits of his orange armour on the ground around him.

"How about now?" King asked.

Gaim remained silent, and King chuckled.

"Hideyoshi… you know I can put you back in there and squish you into a gory mess any time, so better decide quick!" King chirped.

Gaim kept silent, but nodded his head once.

King seemed satisfied, and gestured for the shadows to make way for him behind him. Before he did, he turned his head back and spoke.

"Now, Hideyoshi-san, just a little warning. Don't try to destroy this Driver to get out of this. If you do, well, let's just say you won't like it. If you're so curious what'll happen, kill the others, smash their Drivers and find out. I'm sure there'll be plenty of others raring to fight." King said.

Gaim grunted and kept silent as the hooded man, or King, as the shadows called him, left, the shadows walking right beside him.

"Oh yes," King called. "I opened up a Crack at the entrance. You can go home. I'll get you when I've gotten enough players. I've got a list here."

King held up a device that looked like a smartphone and waved it in Gaim's face.

Gaim caught a glimpse at the list. The one name he saw… this wasn't good. King kept the and walked off with the shadows, chuckling to himself.

The name he saw, beside a purple-coloured Lock Seed…

Kinji Akahoshi.

"It can't be… but what if it is? Kinji's in danger…" Gaim said to himself.

He slowly got up and saw a zip. It opened and he saw the school interior on the other side. Gaim closed the open fruit and opened the lock, then removed the Lock Seed. He proceeded to exit the forest through the zip, or as King called it, the Crack.

* * *

"And that, kids, is how I became Gaim!" Hideyoshi announced proudly.

Kinji had been listening intently and suddenly a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, Hideyoshi… what about your Lock Seed?" He asked.

"Ah… about that, since you busted my Ichigo Lock Seed, you're gonna look for a new one for me!" Hideyoshi announced, dragging Kinji along.

"Wait, what!?"

The next day, after treating their wounds from the previous battle the best they could, Hideyoshi and Kinji wandered through Helheim, having found a Crack. They wandered the forest, picking Lock Seed Flowers as they passed. They'd already found an Ichigo Lock Seed, but Hideyoshi had claimed that he needed more if he was to train Kinji as well as himself.

"We need a place to store these…" Kinji muttered, his hands full of Lock Seeds.

"No problem. Here." Hideyoshi called, pulling out a huge cloth bag and tossing his Lock Seeds in.

"You had that the whole time?" Kinji said in disbelief.

"Don't sweat the details. Oh wait, that's my job. Thinking smart is yours. Anyway, we've found an Ichigo Lock Seed already, and lots of others, so we should head back now. Maybe after I get a few more Seeds." Hideyoshi grinned, walking towards another tree.

He reached out for another two Lock Seed Flowers at once and pulled. They transformed into weirdly shaped, bulky Lock Seeds, one with a white and pink cherry blossom design and the other with a red rose design.

"What the hell are these?" Hideyoshi said aloud.

"Hm? New Lock Seeds? Well since we both don't know what they are, we should test them out." Kinji advised.

Heeding Kinji's advice, Hideyoshi tossed the pink and white Lock Seed to Kinji and they both opened their Lock Seeds. Strangely, it made no announcement. They closed the Lock in the Driver and sliced, but the Lock Seed didn't open like they usually did.

"Wha-?" Hideyoshi said, rapidly slicing on the blade such that it made an extremely rapid and irritating clicking sound.

"It… doesn't work…" Kinji muttered.

"Quite the contrary." A voice called. They turned their heads swiftly to the source of the sound, to see a black Rider. Kinji recognised him as one of the Riders without a Driver at the throne room.

"This here is my favourite puppet, he's called Kurokage. Nice name, eh?" King's voice called. He stepped out from behind Kurokage. "Anyway, seems like you found a Lock Vehicle. They're a little experiment of mine I want to try out. You're supposed to open the lock, then throw it to the ground. Go on, try." King said, gesturing to Kinji's Lock Seed.

Kinji hesitated, then opened his Lock Seed and tossed it to the ground.

Midway, the Lock Seed unfolded into a shiny black motorcycle, a rose as the headlight. There were red and green accents here and there, the part around the wheels green.

Hiseyoshi's became a white motorcycle similar to Kinji's, but with a cherry blossom motif, as well as pink and gold accents instead.

"Damn…" Kinji muttered.

"These Lock Vehicles are powered by their own energy, so they don't really need any gas to fuel them." King explained.

"Useful…" Hideyoshi muttered.

"Well, since you don't have helmets or safety gear, I'd advise you both to transform before using that thing. Also, go fast enough and you'll open a temporary Crack. So go on!" He chirped.

Heeding King's advice, the two activated their Lock Seeds, closing the locks simultaneously and slicing.

[ORANGE]

[LOCK ON]

[BU-DOU]

[LOCK ON]

[SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI… ON STAGE!]

[HAIII! BU-DOU AARMS! RYU! HOU! HAHAHA!]

"Uh… thanks…" Gaim muttered.

"Don't sweat it. Oh yeah, by the way, I decided to add yet another nifty piece of gear. Only the Musou Saber has a sheath, but I decided to make others for all the weapons. Kinji-chan, go try your gun holster!" King said.

"Don't use '-chan' on me…" Ryugen said, looking at his waist.

He noticed a gold, triangular holster in his right hip, which fit the shape of the Ryuhou perfectly. The side of the holster facing outwards had Ryugen's symbol, a stylized version of his helmet on an octagon, in purple

Gaim also acquired a sheath for his Daidaimaru, a simple metal clasp which clamped the bottom of he sword hilt firmly.

"The other players also got that, so it's fair! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a long day of kingly duties to see to, like torturing Inves! You should try it someday. It's fun." King called, walking off with Kurokage.

They remained silent as they got on their motorcycles and decided to try opening a Crack by going fast on their Lock Vehicles as King instructed.

Gaim raced beside Ryugen, swerving occasionally to avoid crashing into random trees.

"When can we open the Crack like King said! He said we'd be able to open one once we reach a high enough speed!" Hideyoshi complained.

As they passed by another tree, Gaim saw a white figure, followed by a bright flash. Something hit his bike and it fell off balance, making Gaim fall onto the ground.

"God! What the hell!" Gaim barked, tumbling onto the soil. The figure stepped out, his visor catching the light and glinting. The attacker brandished his sword and brought it slicing towards Gaim's neck. Rolling aside, Gaim brought out his Musou Saber and Daidaimaru, dual-wielding them. He adjusted his footwork and brought an onslaught of powerful slashes upon his attacker, who raised a green shield with golden fixtures.

"You're not gonna interfere again, Gaim. I'll handle you personally." Zangetsu growled, bringing his own Musou Saber swinging diagonally upwards. Although the strike only hit Gaim's breastplate, it was enough to push Gaim back a good length, also at the same time hurting him.

Ryugen swerved and braked, getting off the bike and trying to draw his gun. Then he remembered the sheath. He felt one button on each leather strap, then pressed it. The leather clasps faded, and Ryugen yanked his gun out, ready to help Gaim. Just then, something slashed his side, causing him to fall.

"I said I'd get revenge, didn't I?" Baron said, cocking his head arrogantly, his spear in his hand.

Ryugen pumped his gun and shot, though the strike seemed to only mildly irritate Baron more than harm him.

Baron prepared for a strike, lifting his spear and getting into a fighting stance. Ryugen saw an opportunity and slashed once on his Driver.

[BU-DOU… SQUASH!]

Tendrils of purple energy trashed about until Ryugen pulled the trigger, and the energy formed spheres, which shot forward to hit Baron. Baron cried out in shock, not pain, for he was used to pain already, and staggered back. Ryugen pulled the tab behind his gun and pulled the trigger, resulting in several bullets firing at rapid speed at Baron. He kept pulling the tab and shooting, not letting Baron have any time to retaliate.

However, it failed, and Baron escaped the torrent of bullets, then proceeded to punch Ryugen in the face. Instead of breaking his nose, Baron seemed to hurt his fist on the mask, cursing and reeling back. Ryugen stumbled back from the sheer force, then returned with a low sweep. His foot made contact with Baron's ankle, and Baron fell. Ryugen punched Baron in the gut, rendering him vulnerable for a moment, then sliced once on his blade.

[BU-DOU… SQUASH!]

This time Ryugen leaped up high into the air, and came down with purple spherical energy spiralling around his right foot. He cried out, plummeting towards Baron. As Ryugen continued his descent downwards, Baron snapped out of his trance, having only a moment to take in the scene.

But for someone like Baron, a moment was all that was needed.

Baron leapt aside, and Ryugen's foot kicked the ground instead. The ground rumbled, and a gigantic cloud of dust was thrown up. Ryugen only heard the sound of a blade on the Driver slicing twice in rapid succession, accompanied with two flashes of bright yellow light as each slicing sound was made, followed by an announcement.

[BANANA AU LAIT!]

As the dust settled, Ryugen saw Baron holding his spear in his right hand, the back of his hand facing the ground, and his other hand splayed open, lightly touching the back of the handle. The spear glowed with yellow energy, making the air around it tremble. Seven energy replicas of the spear materialised, spinning in a circle behind Baron, tips all pointing at Ryugen, who stepped back. The energy spears flickered, like mere holograms which were seemingly harmless. Baron was motionless, and he seemed perfectly calm. Then he made his move.

Baron, grunting, thrust his spear, and the energy solidified and shot out, the surrounding energy spears doing the same. Ryugen leapt to the left, one spear hitting his shoulder padding from the side. The impact was immense, and Ryugen felt like his left shoulder was breaking. He had his arm broken before as a kid. He imagined that the pain was similar.

Ryugen fell to the ground, his mind numb and slightly jarred from the impact. He turned his head to Gaim, who was crossing his two swords to block Zangetsu's Musou Saber. Then Gaim was pushing and managed to push him back. Gaim slashed… but parried away by Zangetsu. Zangetsu slashes. Gaim falls. Though he was quite numb, Ryugen could still hear the sadistic laughter of Zangetsu.

Now back to the battle at hand, Ryugen thought to himself, turning his head back.

"I'm going to end this… you're going to regret ever crossing me!" Baron growled, slicing once on his Driver.

[BANANA SQUASH!]

He leapt into the air, imitating Ryugen's kick, except that for Baron's, yellow energy gathered around his foot like a spearhead. Ryugen had a horrible sense of déjà vū as he recalled being beaten up by Baron the first time.

"No… this isn't like last time… Kurusu-san has trained me already… I CAN FIGHT!" Ryugen said with gritted teeth, his determination becoming his strength. He rolled to get on his back and at the same time dodging the attack. He got up, and leapt away to a safe distance. Ryugen's shoulder was howling in protest, but Ryugen ignored it and sliced twice on his Driver, then aimed his gun at Baron.

[BU-DOU… AU LAIT!]

Small spheres of energy swiftly gathered into a large cannonball of translucent energy in his gun, and he pulled the trigger. The force was immense, and his shoulder creaked dangerously. It hurt like hell, though he knew it would've been worse if his right shoulder was hurt. If that happened, his master hand would have been pretty much immobilised. It kept shooting, once, twice, thrice, reloading immediately as it began moving out. It slowed Baron down, but he was still on-course. His foot made contact with Ryugen, though it was soft and barely did any damage. Due to the strikes, though, Baron lost balance and tumbled awkwardly to the ground.

Ignoring his wound, Ryugen sliced twice on his blade again.

[BU-DOU… AU LAIT!]

The energy built up again, and the large purple cannonball-like projectiles shot out, crashing into Baron, who was thrown back as he gave an almighty scream and was engulfed in an explosion before he even landed.

The battle between Gaim and Zangetsu stopped as they froze and stared at the explosion.

As the smoke settled, they saw Baron kneeling, his head lolling in a circular motion. His Sengoku Driver was cracked, extremely bright yellow light spilling out. The light was replaced with vines, long thin vines like those on the trees of Helheim, except that the vines coming out of the Driver didn't have the Lock Seed Flowers. Baron's back arched, and he collapsed face first into the ground. The vines kept growing and growing, until eventually they engulfed Baron completely. It was rather gruesome, with the thought that, under the bundle of vines Ryugen normally wouldn't give a second glance, was a human being.

He let out a small gasp of shock as the bundle of vines sank to the ground, as if the ground were parting to let the body through. In no time, there was no indication of Baron's existence, save for the Ichigo Lock Seed that he stole, where he sank.

Zangetsu, for his part, seemed unimpressed and took his Lock Seed out without folding the opened section, and fitted it into the groove in his Musou Saber, then closed the lock.

[LOCK ON]

Zangetsu got back into a fighting stance as his blade glowed green.

[1-10-100-1000-10000]

The countdown gave Ryugen and Gaim time to react, and Gaim shoved Ryugen aside, slicing once on his blade.

[ORANGE SQUASH]

His Daidaimaru glowed orange, and he slashed as Zangetsu's blade finished charging.

[MELON CHARGE]

The green and orange waves of energy collided, and sent a huge shockwave throughout the area, throwing the three Riders off their feet.

"Bastard… should've known you'd do that!" Zangetsu growled.

"You should have, and you were doing such a wonderful job of reacting to it!" Gaim commented mockingly, much to Zangetsu's chagrin.

"Die!" Zangetsu shouted, swinging his Musou Saber.

"Kinji!" Gaim called, tossing his Daidaimaru to Ryugen.

Ryugen stretched out his right arm to grab the sword, nearly dropping it as his hand slipped, holding his gun in his aching left hand. He remembered King

"Really smooth." Gaim commented sarcastically. Ryugen made a mental note to get him back for that one.

Ryugen adjusted his grip on the sword. He didn't actually have any training in sword fighting, but he'd seen plenty of movies with sword fights. He figured that that'd be good enough.

Ryugen tilted the sword and slashed down diagonally. Zangetsu brought his shield up and blocked the strike, then twisted his hip to avoid Gaim's strike to his belly.

Ryugen pulled out his gun and shot Zangetsu. Zangetsu cried out and stumbled back, and Ryugen sliced once on his blade, tossing the Daidaimaru back to Gaim, who then sliced once on his own blade.

[BU-DOU… SQUASH!]

[ORANGE SQUASH!]

Ryugen pulled the trigger, but this time bullets larger than his normal ones shot out rapidly, and hit Zangetsu's belt. Gaim's strike, however, hit the belly portion of Zangetsu. Zangetsu cried out in shock and collapsed. His Lock Seed was damaged. Obviously, since he didn't seem to be dying, his Driver was intact.

Green light enveloped Zangetsu and dissipated, revealing a man in a finely tailored black suit and shining leather shoes. He had a cleanly shaven face, and chiseled features. Ryugen couldn't tell how old he was. His eyes were covered by his sunglasses. His cheek had a thin scar running through it, like his cheek had been cut open once. His black hair was neatly combed. His mouth twitched into a scowl, and he slowly got up.

"Well, you've seen me, now you know who I am. To use a severely overused phrase, it seems that my goose is cooked." The man who was Zangetsu said. His voice was still as arrogant as when he was in his Rider form. He held his hands up in surrender as Ryugen pumped his gun.

"All right, I surrender." He said, holding his hands up in surrender. Ryugen and Gaim glanced at each other, then lowered their weapons slightly. Zangetsu grinned at that and quickly slipped behind them.

"Shit!" Gaim turned around, only to see the man dashing towards Baron's Ichigo Lock Seed, the one Baron stole from Gaim.

"He was aiming for that!" Ryugen fired a few rounds, but all of them were dodged with ease. Zangetsu gave a mocking chuckle and picked up the Lock Seed.

"Find me… if you can…" Zangetsu waved at the duo with a Seed hooked onto each finger, then backed away just as a Crack opened up.

"Wait!" Gaim ran towards the Crack and pulled the tab on his Musou Saber. He fired several bursts of yellow energy into the Crack, but failed to hit Zangetsu. Just as Gaim neared the Crack, the zipper quickly zipped itself up, as if taunting him.

Gaim stumbled and fell on his butt, then sighed in defeat.

"He got away…" Gaim slammed a fist into the ground in frustration.

"As usual." Ryugen commented as he sighed heavily.

"Now what?" Gaim flopped onto the ground and started rolling from side to side, which wasn't easy with his armour clinking and getting in the way.

"Get up. We'll go meet Kurusu-san and decide where to go from here," Kinji pulled his friend up and the duo found their Lock Vehicles and boarded them, getting ready to leave.

* * *

And.. done! I'm gonna end it here. Hope you enjoyed that! Go on and leave a comment for suggestions! Well, not strictly for suggestions, maybe just asking questions? In those cases I'll PM you when I see the question. I don't mind criticism, as long as it isn't flaming.


End file.
